is for ever and ever. The sceptre of thy Kingdom is a right sceptre". The worship then was such as belonged to him who was at once both God and King. And thus in the 2d Psalm we are instructed to kiss the Son; which intends, not merely affection and submission, but worship likewise. As it is expressed in the 45th Psalm," He is thy Lord, and worship thou him."

To evade all this by asserting the Son to be the creature of the Father, is vain. It is declaring the Father to be the author of idolatry; that is, that he has with his own hand set up a creature in his own room, and with his own voice decreed him the honour and worship due alone to one who is by nature-God. For the Angels were to worship the Son even in his incarnate state. The wise men from the East went to Jerusalem, and thence to Bethlehem, for this express purpose; 66 We have seen his star in the East", said they, "and are come to worship him". He received worship from all sorts of persons during his ministrations on earth; and when about to ascend to Heaven, as he blessed his disciples, so they worshipped him". Stephen prayed to him, as one that could hear his cry in Heaven, and had power to receive his departing spirit. And to sum up all, all the myriads of angels and saints in heaven are represented, in the revelation by John, as paying their adorations to the lamb. We are therefore compelled by these testimonies,

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not to utter any senseless cry of astonishment, but with Thomas when convinced of the reality of the Saviour's person, to say "unto him, my Lord, and my God!"*

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I have now to adduce proof of the Spirit being God. Though this is not much questioned; the disputed point being that of the Spirit's Personality, which has been already shown. Let then the following text suffice. In the 5th of the Acts, Peter says, Why bath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. How is it ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?" But in the 12th chap. of the 1st of Corinthians, we have the most convincing evidence, at once of the Spirit's Deity, and of his distinct personal agency. For after referring to him a variety of particular acts, all of which require the perfections of God in order to their performance, the apostle concludes thus; But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will."

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4. The remaining particular of our text is the witness or record borne by the sacred Three; "for there are three, who bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit." Perhaps this is one of the strongest proofs possible of their distinct personal agency; because here is one and the same action attributed at once to all the Three severally and individually; and it is then called "the witness of God."

* John, xx. 28.

Now these have borne witness on earth. The Father was heard, more than once, to testify of Christ, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Nor did Christ refrain from testifying to the same truth. But as in the 2d Psalm he is represented saying, "I will declare the decree, Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son;" so he did avow his sonship with his own lips; and for this the Jews condemned him as a blasphemer, because he thus made himself equal with the Father. But * knowing himself to be in the substantial form of God, he considered it no usurpation of another's right to be as God. And that the Father was of the same mind, we have seen already in his saying "To the Son; thy throne, O God! is for ever and ever." With regard to the Spirit, it has been always his peculiar office to bear record to Christ as the Son of God. This he has done in the Old Testament, as in the second Psalm, in the 3d chap. of Daniel, and elsewhere; this he has more fully done in the New Testament; and this he does in the hearts of the faithful. For "no man can say, that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."

However, the text tells us that these three bear witness in heaven. This may have res-. pect to their part in the covenant of peace. In that covenant they testify of the grace and mercy secured to the church. They have recorded in it all those "spiritual blessings",† Philippians ii. 6-8. + Ephes. i. 3, 4,

*

with which the Father has blessed us in his Son, and which are conveyed to us by the Holy Ghost. And in this economy of the covenant you discover the true sense of Paul's benediction, wherein he speaks of the grace of Christ, of the Father's love, and of the communion of the Holy Spirit. Nay, they have testified upon oath, or sealed their testimony with an oath. Hence this transaction is called the promise of God, the covenant of God, and "the oath which he sware". This then throws light on that title of God, which is in general use in the old Testament. It is that of the Alehim; derived from the verb aleh, he has sworn. But of this we shall have to speak more at large. I shall therefore conclude this first division of my subject, with the following examples of the three witnesses. In the 8th of John, Christ says " It is written in your law, that the testimony of two men (that is, of two persons), is true. I am one (person), who bear witness of myself; and the Father, who sent me, beareth witness of me". in the 15th of John, Christ distinguishes between the Father, himself, and the Spirit, and says, "When the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth who proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me".

Then

Having analyzed the text, and assayed every part of it by the scripture, I pass on,

2nd. To the confirmation and illustration of the doctrine contained in it, by adducing

appropriate passages from the old Testament.

1. You will not forget, that I have undertaken nothing more than to lay before you the scripture doctrine in relation to God. As far as plain evidence goes, you will have abundance of it. If the doctrine be above reason, and beyond comprehension, so is God necessarily, because he is in his nature, what we admit of his attributes, altogether infinite and unbounded. One fact will stand preeminently conspicuous; which is, the perfect harmony pervading the old and the new Testament on the subject we are discussing.

The first text from the Hebrew scriptures will be the first verse in the Bible. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". In its interpretation, we must adopt Paul's maxim, who says, "We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth". For the word here used by the Holy Ghost, is not God, but Alehim. It is not of the singular number but of the plural. Nor is it a word without meaning, but fraught with signification the most important. It was intended to convey to us precisely the same notion of the Deity, that we are led to entertain of him from the new Testament," in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". That is to say, it equally declares the plural personality of God. Our translation conceals the truth from us, and leads us into an error; because it renders the Hebrew title which is